Ohio Mushroom Poisoning: Man Nearly Dies After Eating Dangerous Fungi

A man from Ohio nearly died after eating a poisonous mushroom that he found on his lawn that he believed was safe to eat.

William D. Hickman was minding his own business, mowing his yard outside his Windham, Ohio, home when he found a group of mushrooms. He thought that the fungi could make a delicious addition to his dinner.

Mushroom Poisoning

In an interview, he said that he was mowing the ditch and had passed by the mushrooms maybe three or four times while thinking, "Man those look good." The 55-year-old Ohio man remembered the day while closing his eyes.

The Hickman family has, for generations, been foraging for mushrooms, and his great-grandparents had to study which ones were safe to eat. However, William believes that he has an advantage, using his smartphone to take a picture of the mushroom and running it through a plant identifier.

The application identified the fungi as giant puffballs, which are an edible variety of mushrooms found in the wild. Hickman then brought them inside and showed his wife, Tammy, who felt leery about eating ones that her husband took from their yard, as per ABC7 Chicago.

Tammy chose to saute the mushrooms in butter and garlic and only placed them carefully on her husband's tortellini, not having some for herself. William thought that the mushrooms tasted delicious, until eight hours later when he felt like he was going to die, and he nearly did.

Since the Stone Age, humans have been foraging for mushrooms but mycologists across the United States argue that there has been increased interest in the hobby in recent times. They added that there have been significant increases in poisonings as well.

In a statement, a research scientist at the Negaunee Integrative Research Center at the Field Museum in Chicago, Dr. Matthew Nelson said that fungi are kind of a "hot thing right now." Now, mushroom motifs decorate all kinds of things, including tea towels, toddlers' sweaters, and table lamps.

Increase in Cases Across the US

The vice president of science at the Chicago Botanic Garden, Dr. Gregory M. Mueller said that many of the calls they get are kids hands-to-mouth. He added that they also get adults who mistakenly believe that they know the mushrooms that they forage, according to the Albany Herald.

Poison Centers in the United States received more than 7,250 calls about potential mushroom poisonings from January to October this year. This number represents an increase of 11% from the entirety of 2022 when there were roughly 6,500 calls for mushroom poisonings.

Ohio's poison centers have had more than 260 mushroom-related calls as of October, roughly 45% of which go to the ER and 33 people have been hospitalized. In the last two years, calls to Ohio poison centers regarding possible mushroom poisonings have increased 25% from pre-pandemic levels.

The managing director of the Drug & Poison Information Center in Ohio, Jonathan Colvin said that it is not always clear whether or not the mushroom calls are connected to foraging. However, he noted that those who have needed the most serious treatment for a liver or kidney injury reported that they ate mushrooms foraged and misidentified as edible varieties, said CNN.